For the Hi-Fi enthusiasts among us...

Uncle Monty · Sep 25, 2022

This has been in my Attic for over 30years. I purchased it new in 1983. It's a "Sony CDP 101" ,The first production CD player Sony made. I plugged it into the power socket, opened the draw, which at first was was hesitant to open, inserted at disc, but the player struggled to find any tracks. With perseverance I managed to get it to play a track, but it kept skipping. I've located an Engineer who assures me he can service it and get it to perform like new. I'm just contemplating whether or not it would be financially worth it, and if I would I ever use it often enough. It is however a piece of Hi Fi history.

Tony C. · Sep 25, 2022

Uncle Monty
This has been in my Attic for over 30years.

That Sony is a classic!

Here are some excerpts from an interesting article on the player, including a comparison to the Philips model that was introduced soon after (bold emphasis mine):

Much has been written about this machine of late; it is fast becoming collectible. Of course it has a right to be, being not just Sony Corporation’s first ever silver disc spinner, but also the world’s first commercially available CD player. It was launched on the 1st October 1982 (costing Y168,000), but reached the UK market in March 1983 at £800. Reflecting the fact that CD was a joint Sony and Philips technology, Sony delayed the international launch because its partner failed to meet the October ’82 deadline.

It was intriguingly different to Philips’ first machine, the CD100 - despite the two having quite a lot of shared silicon. The headline feature was the disc tray loader, a beautifulassembly precision crafted from aluminium - unlike the plastic drawers that later machines would use. The Philips CD100 by contrast used a top loading ‘drop in’ design, more similar to conventional analogue turntables. In the UK in Spring 1983, the Sony’s drawer loading system seemed impossibly exotic, even if they’re routine now!

Sadly that gorgeous disc tray ended up causing many CDP-101s to be scrapped; the controller chips had a habit of failing, locking the disc in the machine - or out - and this is not an easy fix. It’s something worth remembering if you see a 101 at a bargain price; if there’s any hesitancy when opening or closing the drawer then prepare yourself for the sound of silence!

the full article:

https://zstereo.co.uk/2014/10/10/sony-cdp-101/

Evitzee · Sep 25, 2022

Mechanical issues aside there is a huge difference in sonic quality in the first CD players versus recent designs. When introduced the CD system was thought to just be 1's and 0' s to be decoded, all players would sound the same. Not so as we all know now. That early Sony is interesting for what it is, but sonic quality won't be at the level of a good, modern design.

Larry S · Sep 25, 2022

Evitzee
Mechanical issues aside there is a huge difference in sonic quality in the first CD players versus recent designs. When introduced the CD system was thought to just be 1's and 0' s to be decoded, all players would sound the same. Not so as we all know now. That early Sony is interesting for what it is, but sonic quality won't be at the level of a good, modern design.

Added this top rated Marantz CD6007 to my system which includes a very good 7 year old Yamaha changer last year … the sound difference is striking even to my old ears. My advice @Uncle Monty, is to go new rather that dump cash into this player which will not really be up to the caliber of your gear. At present Marantz and Rotel seem to be producing the best mid price range decks from my research. My decision between brands was a coin flip really. I decided the very good on board headphone amp was worth it vs Rotel and I bought an open stock unit with full warranty for a nice discount.

SkunkPrince · Sep 25, 2022

Uncle Monty
This has been in my Attic for over 30years. I purchased it new in 1983. It's a "Sony CDP 101" ,The first production CD player Sony made. I plugged it into the power socket, opened the draw, which at first was was hesitant to open, inserted at disc, but the player struggled to find any tracks. With perseverance I managed to get it to play a track, but it kept skipping. I've located an Engineer who assures me he can service it and get it to perform like new. I'm just contemplating whether or not it would be financially worth it, and if I would I ever use it often enough. It is however a piece of Hi Fi history.

That it played at all is a good sign. The lubrication in the transport is more glue than grease these days... once that is cleaned and relubricated, it is definitely worth keeping... as long as it has digital out and you can use another DAC, such as the Z model from Parasound, that sounds very nice indeed.

SkunkPrince · Sep 25, 2022

Evitzee
Mechanical issues aside there is a huge difference in sonic quality in the first CD players versus recent designs. When introduced the CD system was thought to just be 1's and 0' s to be decoded, all players would sound the same. Not so as we all know now. That early Sony is interesting for what it is, but sonic quality won't be at the level of a good, modern design.

Indeed, the circuitry is better these days. Interestingly enough, I had both a Stax DAC-Talent I used at home and a Zdac from Parasound that I used at work. The Parasound was slightly better than the Stax, until I found some upgrades that could be installed in the Stax. Since I was an electronics technician for many years, I pulled out the old chip, soldered in a socket, and added the purchased daughter board that replaced the chip, I think it was part of the filter after the D/A chip.

And I'll be darned, the Stax was improved a small but noticeable amount, surpassing the Zdac by a bit in its performance.

Parasound has more sophisticated DACs in their products, but that Zdac is very very good and that the Stax with upgrade met and slightly exceeded its performance was pretty remarkable.

BlackTalon · Sep 25, 2022

DACs these days are down to the chips, which typically have multiple filters built into them. There are $100 DACs that easily stand up to -- and surpass -- the $10k DACs these days with respect to their accuracy and low noise. Some of the $$$ DACs actually have more distortion and non-linearity meant to be the maker's 'tuning'.

vibe · Sep 25, 2022

JwRosenthal
Nice retrofit. I had a friend who bought a Braun stereo console from the early 60’s and helped him restore it. When we dropped the needle on the record player for the first time, we were shocked at how good it sounded- truly the dawn of hifi. There was actually a great image and great dynamics- the whole house filled with music as it was fairly Omni-directional. I could be happy with that as my living room/entertaining stereo.

One of these? Most likely not early 60’s though.

JwRosenthal · Sep 25, 2022

vibe
One of these?

Oh, that’s slick! No, his was c. 1960, fairly compact teak console with flip down front white glass tuner and a slide out turntable if I recall (it’s been a decade or so). Speakers were the Grundig style in the front and sides.

Similar to this:

Engee · Sep 29, 2022

Recommendation for digital music transfer, storage and playback device welcome.

I honestly don't even know what these machines are called - there seem to be many devices on the market that look like they do something along these lines so I'm sure they must exist.

I want to get rid of my CDs as we are planning to downsize, and I see no reason why I shouldn't transfer them onto a hard drive that will then be a part of my hi-fi system. I have no idea how much I need to spend to deliver sound at a quality and price compatible with my system (Linn Sondek LP12 with Ittok Arm, B&W speakers, Croft Pre amp, Trio L-05M monoblocks), or indeed the type of device I should be looking for.

Also, would I need to record each disk in real time or would I use software through my computer. If the latter, am I going to lose quality?

Any recommendations gratefully received.

Evitzee · Sep 29, 2022

Music Servers were a big thing a few years ago but seem to have faded from the scene in favor of streaming. Like every storage system if it breaks or gets corrupted you are screwed. That's about all I know, I still use CDs and vinyl for listening. I'm living in the 70s and 80s.

Engee · Sep 29, 2022

Evitzee
Music Servers were a big thing a few years ago but seem to have faded from the scene in favor of streaming. Like every storage system if it breaks or gets corrupted you are screwed. That's about all I know, I still use CDs and vinyl for listening. I'm living in the 70s and 80s.

I have a Spotify account and would be happy with it or an equivalent but my understanding is that streaming us not as high quality as cd.

JwRosenthal · Sep 29, 2022

Engee
Recommendation for digital music transfer, storage and playback device welcome.

I honestly don't even know what these machines are called - there seem to be many devices on the market that look like they do something along these lines so I'm sure they must exist.

I want to get rid of my CDs as we are planning to downsize, and I see no reason why I shouldn't transfer them onto a hard drive that will then be a part of my hi-fi system. I have no idea how much I need to spend to deliver sound at a quality and price compatible with my system (Linn Sondek LP12 with Ittok Arm, B&W speakers, Croft Pre amp, Trio L-05M monoblocks), or indeed the type of device I should be looking for.

Also, would I need to record each disk in real time or would I use software through my computer. If the latter, am I going to lose quality?

Any recommendations gratefully received.

A friend of my step-father bought one of these.

https://thebrennan.com/

He is an audiophile and apparently loves it- I don’t know which model he got but he thinks it’s the bees knees.

SkunkPrince · Sep 29, 2022

If you're in the Apple universe, you can subscribe to Apple Muisc with many lossless recording. I also have a 4k AppleTV device, which routes a digital signal to my TV, the TV outputs a digital signal to an outboard DAC, and then routes analog through my Parasound components.

Had I the money and desire, I'd get one of the higher-end Parasound amps with a DAC built in and feed Quad ESL speakers.

Engee · Sep 29, 2022

JwRosenthal
A friend of my step-father bought one of these.

https://thebrennan.com/

He is an audiophile and apparently loves it- I don’t know which model he got but he thinks it’s the bees knees.

I'll look into that. Thank you.

Engee · Sep 29, 2022

SkunkPrince
If you're in the Apple universe, you can subscribe to Apple Muisc with many lossless recording. I also have a 4k AppleTV device, which routes a digital signal to my TV, the TV outputs a digital signal to an outboard DAC, and then routes analog through my Parasound components.

Had I the money and desire, I'd get one of the higher-end Parasound amps with a DAC built in and feed Quad ESL speakers.

I am in the Apple universe but that sounds too complicated for me. I just want to buy a thing with wires!

sxl2004 · Sep 29, 2022

I ripped all my CDs with EAC software to lossless formats.
The files live on redundant portable HDs and run through an old laptop and Roon hardwired to my DAC.
Not the most elegant solution but cost effective.
Best

BlackTalon · Sep 29, 2022

ripped all of our CDs a couple years ago to the hard drive on my desktop and also backed them up to an external HDD. I play them through Media Player or VLC Media Player, and listen through desktop soundbar, through an external DAC/ amp + headphones, or via Mconnect to my Oppo DVD player which is a source for the big stereo. But I listen to Tidal a lot more than to the CDs I ripped, even for the same albums/ songs. Also both my wife's stereo system and my son's stereo system have Bluenodes and the primary source is Tidal.

vibe · Oct 1, 2022

Engee
Recommendation for digital music transfer, storage and playback device welcome.

I honestly don't even know what these machines are called - there seem to be many devices on the market that look like they do something along these lines so I'm sure they must exist.

I want to get rid of my CDs as we are planning to downsize, and I see no reason why I shouldn't transfer them onto a hard drive that will then be a part of my hi-fi system. I have no idea how much I need to spend to deliver sound at a quality and price compatible with my system (Linn Sondek LP12 with Ittok Arm, B&W speakers, Croft Pre amp, Trio L-05M monoblocks), or indeed the type of device I should be looking for.

Also, would I need to record each disk in real time or would I use software through my computer. If the latter, am I going to lose quality?

Any recommendations gratefully received.

Linn DSM is great. I use them with a roon music server with local stored music on a hard drive + can stream lossles or Spotify (via Linn). I have three of them networked in my house. Have used apple, bluesound, and sonos as well but the Linn is about a million times better. With Linn, you would need to run network cable

Engee · Oct 1, 2022

Or just get rid of the jewel cases and keep the CDs in wallets to save space? A hi-fi consultant I spoke to yesterday argued there’s no audio substitute for CDs. None of the storage playback devices give anything like the sound level of even a half decent transport and DAC, he says.

For the Hi-Fi enthusiasts among us...

Uncle Monty

Tony C.

Evitzee

Larry S

SkunkPrince

SkunkPrince

BlackTalon

vibe

JwRosenthal

Engee

Evitzee

Engee

JwRosenthal

SkunkPrince

Engee

Engee

sxl2004

BlackTalon

vibe

Engee

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